DNP is back in the news Tuesday as the mother of 21-year-old student Ella Parry who died after taking eight times the recommended dose of 'diet pills' issued a warning to others who may be duped into buying the drug.

Fiona Parry told the Mail Online she believes her daughter could have turned to the tablets after being bullied for being ginger leading to body image-related issues.

Ms. Parry warned others considering buying and using the product of the "horrifying details about the effect of the drugs on her daughter's body, in a bid to show others that it was 'an awful way to die'."

In April 2013 we reported the death of Sarah Houston which was also linked to DNP.

23-year-old Leeds University student Sarah Houston, as you can see from her image, was a beautiful, intelligent young woman with everything to live for but Sarah had an eating disorder and body image issues which led to her secretly taking DNP slimming pills.

A combination of DNP and anti-depressants is believed to have resulted in her death. As the inquest was held her family spoke to the media; they say it is incomprehensible that DNP, a pesticide, can be bought freely online as a slimming aid and they are asking that it is banned.

Because DNP is sold as a pesticide online buyers can easily purchase the drug and use it for slimming purposes. At time of writing in 2013 it was also marketed by some as a slimming aid.

The inquest, held in Wakefield ended and the family issued a statement saying;

"To lose someone so young in this way only adds to our devastation. "We as a family are distraught and are keen to make sure no other family suffer in this way. "Whilst the FSA has banned it from human consumption, its risks are not widely known and it does not seem to affect the ease at which it can be bought from the internet. "It seems incomprehensible to us that such a toxic substance can be available in tablet form to be sold in the UK for human consumption across the internet."

Pretty Ella Parry

As Sarah was a medical student you might think she should have known better than buy such a product but life is not like that. As a bulimic, losing weight may have been an overwhelming driving force. You look at her beauty in the image and wonder why she was unhappy with her body but that is the nature of eating disorders.

It was hoped that Sarah's death would prompt the authorities to act and also act as a cautionary tale to others; the death of Ella Parry on April 12, 2015, indicates little has changed for the better.

When the inquest of Sarah Houston took place the Guardian reported "DNP, which was first used to treat obesity in the 1930s but was banned as a food substance due to its dangerous side effects, continues to be used as a slimming aid by bodybuilders around the world. It was linked to 62 deaths in a study published last year in the Journal of Medical Toxicity"

Whilst the coroner said that the DNP, dinitrophenol, may have reacted adversely with the anti-depressant medication, Fluoxetine, in Sarah's case he condemned the retailers of DNP. He vowed to pass his recommendations on to the government. Sarah came from a "medical family" and was the fifth family member to enter the medical profession. Her family also vowed to do what they can to make the sale of DNP as a slimming aid illegal.

The DNP in the case of Sarah was bought from an online retailer in Spain; this, according to police, would make a ban difficult, as it has a legitimate use as a pesticide.Eloise Parry, known as Ella, also bought DNP, also known as Dinitrophenol online; she 'burned up from the inside' after swallowing the highly-toxic substance.

Ella took an accidental overdose of DNP and drove herself to hospital but they could not save her. Three hours later she was dead; there is no antidote to DNP, which is toxic.

An inquest will follow and an official cause of death announced. Her Mum has issued a statement which is doubly worth reading if you are considering such drastic measures in the hope of losing weight;

'Sunday started out cool and clear.'By lunchtime there was a brisk wind, blowing in strong gusts that suggested a storm might be coming.

'Overhead the skies were bright blue, almost cloudless and full of promise.'I didn't know it at the time, but Ella had bought slimming tablets on the internet. 'A substance called DNP that is unsuitable for human consumption because of its toxicity.'She had taken even more of these "slimming tablets" than recommended on the pack and had no idea just how dangerous they really were.'How many of us have ever thought "If one tablet works, surely it won't hurt to take one or two more?"'She went on to explain that her daughter had driven herself to hospital and walked into A&E. As she was still completely lucid and seemed to be OK, she thought there was no danger. However, when the toxicity report came back it became clear how dire her situation was.Mrs Parry continued: 'The drug was in her system, there was no antidote, and she had taken a lethal dose.'As Ella deteriorated, the staff in A&E did all they could to stabilise her.'As the drug kicked in and started to make her metabolism soar, they attempted to cool her down, but they were fighting an uphill battle.'She was literally burning up from within. When she stopped breathing, they put her on a ventilator and carried on fighting to save her.'When her heart stopped they couldn't revive her.'She added that her daughter never intended to take her own life, she just didn't understand the danger of taking an overdose of the slimming tablets.Mrs Parry said: 'Most of us don't believe that a slimming tablet could possibly kill us.'DNP is not a miracle slimming pill. It is a deadly toxin. It is similar to TNT in structure.'TNT is an explosive. DNP causes your metabolism to run at an explosive level, with potentially fatal consequences.'

These chemical companies do anything to keep the business going. What terrible loss of life of such beautiful girls. Which ever produces them should be closed down immediately but the authorities do not work that way.

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